Western Open is short on top pros

Western Open Notes

Posted: Thursday, July 06, 2000

By From Wire Reports

CHICAGO -- With Tiger Woods, this year's Advil Western Open has only three of the world's top 10 ranked players, and six of the top 20. Western entrants in the top 20 are Woods at 1, Phil Mickelson at 7, Vijay Singh at 8, Nick Price at 11, Tom Lehman at 14, and Jim Furyk at 15.

The Western wasn't in line to get European players such as Colin Montgomerie, Lee Westwood, and Darren Clarke. However, there are some notable PGA Tour players who passed up Cog Hill: David Duval (ranked second), Ernie Els (fourth), Davis Love III (fifth), Hal Sutton (ninth) and Justin Leonard (17th).

''We're happy with the field,'' said tournament director John Kaczkowski. ''A lot of people who have been around longer than I have said it is one of our best fields in years.''

Former UGA golfer Chip Beck on TV

Chip Beck will be in the field this week, but his future could be in television. Beck has signed on to do five PGA Tour events this fall for ESPN. He also will do the preview shows Saturday and Sunday before ABC's network coverage.

Beck, 43, would like nothing more than to be unavailable for the weekend shows by making the cut. However, he has only made the cut in 3 of 16 tournaments this year. For the season, he has earned only $42,597.

Daly withdraws from Western Open

John Daly withdrew from the Western Open on Wednesday morning because of an inflamed hip, one day before the tournament was scheduled to begin.

Daly never made it to Chicago. His agent, John Mascatello, called the PGA Tour's office in Ponte Verda Beach, Fla., Wednesday morning and left a message that the two-time major champion was withdrawing to overcome inflammation in his right hip.

Mascatello also indicated Daly would send a letter to the tour commissioner to explain his withdrawal. Tour policy requires any player who commits to a tournament and then withdraws to send a letter of explanation within 14 days.